The Sixth Guardian
by Civilized Muppets
Summary: After Loki fell from the bifrost, Thanos wiped his memory, and made him into his favorite child and heir. Loki ends up as the sixth member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and never invades. Instead it's Nebula, as Thanos's only remaining child. When the Guardians come to take her to Nova Prime, Thor sees his long lost brother, who doesn't even know who he is. What's a god to do?
1. Prologue

AN: Okay, so I've seen some fanfictions where Loki ends up meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy while he was in the void. These are great, really, but the only ones I can find have him just meeting the Guardians, or even just a couple of them, most often before they even formed the group. The most common seem to be of him and Gamora while he was hanging around with Thanos, going under the theory that Thanos adopted him like he did Gamora and Nebula. The other common one is that he somehow escapes Thanos and ends up tagging along with Rocket and Groot. While these make for interesting storylines, I have yet to find one where Loki is actually part of the Guardians themselves. So, I'll post the first chapter, and if it gets good enough feedback, I'll continue it. And by good feedback I mean like 5 people telling me they want a continuation. Either way, while there is a larger story to go along with this, it could be a stand alone. Enjoy!

OOOOOOOOOO

Loki didn't remember much. He could count all of the facts that he knew about himself on one hand.

name was Loki.

2\. He was proficient at most weapons, though he was best at knives and spears.

3\. He was a sorcerer, and a pretty damn powerful one too.

4\. In his past life, he was surrounded by blonde assholes, none of whose names, faces, or personality traits he could not remember, and almost all of whom he hated with a burning passion.

And that was it. Really. In regards to who he had been before this, that was all he knew. There was a guy named Thanos who had claimed to be his father, but seriously, how stupid did this guy think he was? Loki may have been part robot (courtesy of his new 'dad'), but he was definitely not purple. Caucasian, often. Blue, occasionally. But never purple. The only logical conclusion that Loki had was that daddy dearest had erased his memories and given him robot parts to turn him into a weapon, then told him that he was his son to earn his new weapons loyalty. Dumbass.

He didn't like Thanos, not one bit. So, when 'dad' went to go send Gamora and Nebula, his two sisters, on a mission, he pretended to be excited about the prospect of some field experience, and begged Thanos to let him go with them. Smiling at his enthusiasm, the purple asshole had agreed wholeheartedly. So now here he was, with Gamora, waiting for this porcupine guy or whatever his name was to show up so he could give his favorite sister the slip. It's not that he didn't like Gamora, he really did. It's just that if he wanted to be away from 'dad', he needed to be away from her.

What he didn't count on was being caught.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Name: Loki. He and his sister Gamora are two of the three known children of Thanos. Them, along with their sister Nebula, have been loaned out to Ronan the Destroyer, leading us to believe they're working together. All that is known about Loki at this point is that he's Thanos's heir and is rumored to be his most powerful child yet."

OOOOOOOOOO

While Peter was distracting the man who apparently had a leg Rocket needed, Loki knocked him out from behind and took it out of its socket.

"We make a pretty good team, Porcupine."

"Can you not call me that?"

"I could call you Petunia."

"Porcupine is fine."

"I thought it would be. Come on, we gotta move before we're mince meat."

"You know, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"Don't push your luck, Petunia."

OOOOOOOOOO

"I would be honored to die beside my friends."

Smiling at his sister, Loki stood up.

"I don't remember much of my life before the purple douche decided to give me amnesia and robot parts, but there is one memory that I have recently be able to unearth. I'm in the woods with five blonde douche bags. I can't remember their name or faces, not even what they're voices are like, but I know that I hated them. Anyway, so we came across these ogres, and these Idiots run in and attack without a plan. And I sigh and run in to help them after thinking 'I am destined to die surrounded by assholes.' Looks like my destiny hasn't changed that much. But I can think of no better assholes to die beside then you."

"Loki we're pretty much the only people you know."

"I did that whole, emotional speech, and you immediately go and ruin it. Thanks sis."

"Anytime, brother."

OOOOOOOOOO

Loki had no idea how he had gotten in this situation. How the fuck his life had gotten to the point where he was dancing to some Terran song with a douchebag in a red leather trench coat was one of the most confusing sequence of events that he would probably never be able to decipher.

He just hoped that Rocket figured out that gun soon.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Little bit of both."

Loki looked up from where he was magically turning Groot back to full size, and said, smirking,

"You know what, Petunia? I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

OOOOOOOOOO

So that was that! If you guys want more, tell me and I'll be happy to write more!


	2. Tables and Tesseracts

**An: aaaaaaaaaaaand I'm back bitches! I've got good reviews, so here's chapter 2! Enjoy!**

 **OOOOOOOOOO**

 **Hello**

 **Daddy**

 **Hello mom**

 **Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!**

 _I'm going to kill that sonuva bitch._

This was the first thought that greeted Loki when he awoke at like 3 am to the sound of Awesome mix 1. Now, as Loki was a creature of the night, normally this would not have bothered him.

But he hadn't slept in a week.

And somehow Rocket kept hacking his robotic left eye so that he would constantly get pop up ads advertising furry porn.

And more likely than not that music was probably providing the beat to his lovely sister fucking a porcupine in the main room.

Note to self: don't eat at the table for the next few days.

Grumbling he rose from his bed. Some nice internet trolling might do him some good.

Uninformed assholes, uninformed assholes everywhere.

 **OOOOOOOOOO**

Loki hummed along to one of Porcupine's Terran songs as he made himself a sandwich. It had been a long night of research, trying to find some dirt on Yondu so they could get him to do shit for them.

Loki sat down at the table in between Rocket, who was fiddling with something that would probably explode if anyone other that the racoon touched it, and Groot, who had recently reached his full size thanks to Loki's magic. As he sat down to enjoy his diabetes inducing masterpiece of bacon, cheese, and god knows what from god knows where, when he noticed something.

"Hey Rocket?"

"Yes Loki?"

"Why is the table ticking?"

"I turned it into a bomb."

Loki, like any sensible person, took a moment to soak that information in.

"Rocket?"

"Yes Loki?"

"WHY THE FUCK DID YOU TURN THE TABLE INTO A BOMB?"

The racoon shrugged.

"It was pissing me off."

"How does a table piss you off!?"

"It's too high."

"Rocket you're a fucking raccoon! Everything's high to you!"

"Eh."

"Oh my g- just defuse it before you blow a hole in the side of the ship and send us all to hell."

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Do you really want to know what I'll do to you if you refuse?"

"Good point."

 **OOOOOOOOOO**

"Holy shit, Gamora, did he really say that?"

"Yep. I shit you not, he looked me in the eye, and said, in a completely serious voice,' You're one sexy pumpkin I'd like to carve' and then he passed out."

Loki looked at the man of the table incredulously.

"I didn't think Petunia drank that much."

"I thought he was porcupine."

"He drunkenly hit on my sister. I'm mad at him."

"Fair point."

Gamora bid them goodnight, and went to her room to sleep her own alcohol off. Loki, ever the faithful friend, sat at the table with their leader until he woke up. And when he did, Loki proceeded to threaten him with bodily harm if he ever called his sister a sexy pumpkin again. And then he asked why he had even gotten that drunk in the first place, and it all came pouring out.

It had been twenty years since his mother died.

As Star Lord broke down crying on the table, Loki wrapped his robotic left arm around him, and gave the man a shoulder to cry on.

Loki may not remember his own mother, but he knew how messed up he'd be if Gamora died, and he knew that he would likely be worse that Peter was.

And so he held his brother close as the man cried from the unfairness of the world, until he passed out again. And then Loki even carried him to his room. Because he was nice like that, and he's had enough bad nights to know that waking up anywhere than your own bed made it far, far worse.

And Drax watched this in confusion. These beings still eluded him, even after two months of close proximity.

 **OOOOOOOOOO**

Thor sighed as he stood in the helicarrier, watching the woman who had caused so much trouble. Her name was Nebula, and she was a species the likes of which he had never seen. She had blue skin and black eyes, looking like some type of crossover between a Jotun and a dark elf. Her right arm was robotic, as was part of her face around her right eye and a thick strip on the top of her bald head. She had stolen the tesseract from the Midgardians who really shouldn't have had it in the first place.

And she apparently knew Loki.

Heimdal had noticed the tesseract's power and sent for the Allfather. While he was waiting for him to arrive, he noticed something. The woman, now known as Nebula, mentioned Loki's name.

" _Of course, father. I will not fail you like Loki and Gamora."_

It was a long shot. The odds that she was talking about his Loki were slim to none. The odds that Loki had died when he fell off the bifrost were far greater. But if there was even the slightest chance that Loki was alive, Thor _had_ to know. So, here he was, pretending that he was here out of duty and a longing to return to Earth and Jane, when in reality he probably wouldn't even let her know he was here. He loved her, he really did, but family came first. His _brother_ came first. And Loki was his brother, even if the green eyed trickster denied it. Thor could only hope that he was still alive to do so.

"Well? Are you just going to sit there and stare at me, or are you going to say something?"

Thor narrowed his eyes at her. He wanted to rage and force her to tell him about Loki. But if time with his brother had taught him anything, it was that that would get him nowhere. If he was going to get good, reliable information, she was either going to have to be tricked, or bribed in some way. And Thor wasn't very good at trickery.

But Loki was.

" _Alright Thor, your skill with words is appalling. I refuse to associate with you if you cannot trick someone without failing utterly."_

" _What use would I have for trickery? Some of us have swords."_

" _You'd be surprised, brother."_

Thor hadn't thought of that conversation in decades. Maybe if he had, he would have remembered the look on Loki's face when he degraded trickery. Now, to find his brother, he would have to use his art.

" _Listen closely. First, do what they expect you to do. Make them think they have you figured out, that they are in control of the situation."_

"Where is the tesseract?"

She smirked.

"Now why would I tell you that?"

" _Once you get them talking, keep them talking. Make them think that they're better than you. Inflate their ego. The arrogant are the ones that slip. But be careful, don't be obvious. Be subtle. They'll be looking, trust me."_

Thor bit his lip and averted his eyes, leaning back on the heels of his feet slightly. For once, Loki hadn't lied. She had been looking, and her smirk grew wider. Thor set his jaw and looked her in the eye, as though he were gathering the courage to do so.

"What do you plan to do with it?"

She raised her chin and tilted her head to the right.

"Take over this world of course."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

" _Next, throw them off balance. If you can rip the floor out from under their feet, they'll try to cover it up. That's when they slip."_

"Of course, you don't want to take over this world, do you?"

She blinked, and he strengthened his back and put on a smirk of his own.

"Of course I do!" She snarled.

His smirk widened.

"No you don't. Not for yourself anyway. Your doing it for someone else."

She tried to stand straighter, recover the situation.

"Oh really? And who would that be?"

" _And once you've got them hook, line and sinker…"_

"Your father."

" _...go in for the kill."_

Her eyes widened and she took a step back, visibly shaken up.

"How did you know that!?"

"I know a lot of things. Like how you don't want to fail like the two before you."

He didn't really know much. But the sentence Heimdal had over heard her say gave him enough to make it look like he did. Loki's second favorite art. Illusion.

"I will not fail like those traitors! I will not disappoint father! I will conquer this world, and not even Loki and Gamora will stop me! And you! You, asgardian, will not stand in my way! Not even the monster dressed as a man could do to you what I can with Loki's stolen memories!"

"So that's your play."

Thor whirled around to see the Widow behind him, smirking at her victory. Nebula snarled.

"You tricked me!"

Thor turned around to face her, hoping Heimdal had seen her rant. 'Loki's stolen memories' didn't sound good.

"I learned from the best."

" _I will never need to use such cowardly tactics, brother."_

 _Loki turned to him with a knowing look in his eyes._

" _Oh, I think you will."_

" _Is that a threat?"_

" _Not at all, brother. Merely a prediction."_

Not for the first time, Thor wondered if the Norns had gifted his brother with the power to see the future, or if Loki had just been wiser than all of Asgard combined.

 **OOOOOOOOOO**

 **And there we go! Remember to review!**

 **Edit: I've been updating from mobile and didn't realize that the formating hadn't stuck when I posted the chapter. Sorry, that was probably really confusing without the italics to clarify when Loki was talking in that last bit.**


	3. Pranks and Pessimists

**AN: While writing this chapter I ended up looking back at Tables and Tesseracts to make sure I remembered something correctly, and realized that the italics and bold I've been using to format the chapters wasn't sticking when I uploaded from my phone. I've already reuploaded the previous chapter, and will do my best to make sure that doesn't happen from this point forward, but if the AN's ever aren't bolded in a chapter, let me know because chances are it happened again, and sometimes italics or bolded letters can be the difference between confusion and clarity. Like in the final scene of the last chapter, the memory part of the conversation was meant to be in italics, which would have made it much easier to understand. Since no one said anything I assume you're all smart cookies and managed to figure it out on your own, but I apologize nonetheless.**

 **To answer some questions:**

 **Loki has a robotic left eye, a robotic left arm, and a robotic right leg from the knee down. They serve their uses and aren't going anywhere, but he generally uses a glamor to cover it up. Because of this he typically looks just like he does in the movies with wilder hair, and the green in his outfit is replaced with the Guardian's trademark dark red. He also added a hood in place of the helmet and got rid of all the gold on it for stealth reasons, so the gold is either just plain gone, or, in the case of his gauntlets, has been replaced with enchanted leather. He's not a prince of the golden realm anymore, nor does he remember that part of his life. He has no reason to wear gold like that when all it would do is get in the way.**

 **Which leads us to the other question/issue that has been brought up to me: Loki being OOC. I am well aware of this, and I promise I have a good reason for it.**

 **I personally believe in nature over nurture, that experiences dictate a large part of who you are. There are some things that will likely not change no matter what happens, for instance a generally optimistic person will always be optimistic, while a generally pessimistic person will always be pessimistic. Things like this can be suppressed or changed by major events, but they are usually pretty dependable. Loki has amnesia. He has no memory of the etiquette lessons or the constant judgement of Asgard. He may retain the muscle memory that has him fighting like he usually does or standing straight like a prince, but he doesn't remember learning those things. He was also the god of chaos, and was given the title for a reason. Very few things are set in stone when it comes to him. He is a trickster, he is a pessimist, and he is, above all else, adaptable. After Thanos wiped his memory, he was essentially a child with the intelligence of a genius adult. He observed those around him and learned which behaviors would serve him best, similar to what children do when they're young. He was surrounded by criminals and psychopaths, of course the result wasn't anywhere close to the personality of the old Loki. He did it again when he ended up running with the guardians: he observed them, figured out their behaviors, and adapted to what would work best in the situation. That's why his new character is similar to Peter and Rocket: he learned it from them. So yes, I am aware that Loki is extremely OOC at the moment, but there is reason and logic behind it. I just can't realistically see Loki retaining the entirety of his personality in his current situation.**

 **Well, after that page long explanation, I know you guys have been waiting for this for a while, so I won't hold you up any longer! Enjoy the chapter!**

 **OOOOOOOOOO**

"Quill, what is the purpose of this contraption? How are you supposed to kill with it?"

"...Drax, those are headphones."

"Do you choke your victims with the cord?"

"Um, no."

"Is it a torture device then? Do you harm your victims with sound waves?"

"Okay, first of all, no, and second of all, give those back, you can't be trusted with them."

Gamora turned to her brother, who was watching their esteemed leader leave the room with a grin.

"How long do you think it'll be before he figures out that Drax is just messing with him."

"Sister of mine, I love you dearly, but you could have chosen better in terms of intelligence. He'll figure it out when Drax runs out of objects to be confused over."

"I am Groot!"

Loki smirked.

"Right you are, my friend. He said that Peter probably wouldn't even figure it out then."

Rocket learned to understand Groot from time and experience. Loki could understand him because of all the magic he had used on him when he was restoring the creature to his former glory. While they had no doubt that Drax, Gamora and Peter would come to understand Groot the same way Rocket did eventually, in the meantime they relied heavily on Loki to translate for them because Rocket couldn't be bothered. Turns out Groot had a wicked sense of humor.

"Knowing him, he'll probably only find out when Nova Prime takes pity on him."

"Rocket, why would she do that?"

"Alright, Verde, you've got me there."

Apparently, Peter had taken some language called "Spanish" when he was young on Terra. One of his nicknames for Gamora was Verde, green, one of the few words he remembered. The rest of the guardians had taken to calling her that when they didn't want to say all three syllables after they learned the hard way that if anyone other than Loki called her Mora they would be met with pain.

"Hey Mora, you remember that guy with the weird face mask thing? What did he call himself? The Other?"

"Something like that. Why?"

"Whatever happened to him?"

"I think I heard Nebula mention that Ronan killed him during our fight. Why does it matter?"

"I don't know, I'm just really happy about that information for some reason."

"Strange."

"Indeed."

Peter walked back into the room, looking annoyed.

"Hey guys, I knowed we planned to take this weekend off, but Nova got a lead on Nebula. Apparently she's trying to take over Terra with two infinity stones. They think it's Mind and Space. We can't ignore this, guys. Unfortunately, Terra's still off limits and they're not moving on that. Fortunately, those laws don't apply to anyone from that sector of the galaxy. Which means, Loki, it's you and me. I'm still technically a citizen, and you're genetics hail from that part of the universe, so we're the only one who have a probable reason to be there."

Loki smirked.

"Terra, huh? Sounds fun. When do we leave?"

 **OOOOOOOOOO**

"Who's Loki, Thor?"

The blonde man sighed, turning to the assassin.

"He is my younger brother, Lady Widow. He fell into the void a year ago. Until now, we thought him dead."

"Are you sure it's the same one? It might not be a common name, but he can't be the only person named Loki in the universe."

"True, but he was the only Loki I had ever known, and he is the only one whose knowledge of me could harm me."

"Okay. Thor, she said his memories were stolen. Even if he is the Loki you're thinking of, there's a very real chance he won't remember you."

"I am aware, Lady Widow. That does not mean I will give up. Even if he does not remember me and never will, or if he does and wants nothing to do with me or Asgard, the knowledge that my darling brother is indeed alive would soothe many of my sorrows, even if I only saw him once."

She nodded.

"I understand, just be prepare to be disappointed."

"You remind me of him in many ways, Lady Widow."

"Oh?"

"Indeed. The intelligence, the trickery, the pessimism. If you ever met, I believe you would be either great enemies or great friends."

"If he has the same power as you, I would prefer the latter."

"Believe me, Lady Widow. He has more."

Before they could continue their conversation, the helicarrier was knocked to the side, and they were under attack.

 **OOOOOOOOOO**

"Loki taught me that trick."

He glared at her from inside the glass prison. Loki had played that trick on him often in their childhood when he wanted Thor to leave him alone with his books or experiments. He really must stop falling for it.

The blue woman walked over to the controls and placed her hand on the lever.

"And now, Odinson, you will die without knowing the fate of your oh so precious brother."

"Whoever decided to dub _me_ a drama queen has obviously never met you, dear sister."

Thor's heart stopped beating in his chest.

 _Loki._

 **AN: I know, I'm evil. It shouldn't be nearly as long a wait for the next chapter as it was for this one. If you didn't read the AN at the top, 1: go do that, it answers some questions and addresses some concerns I've gotten in the reviews. 2: The previous chapter has been reuploaded to include the italics that were there originally, but for some reason didn't stick when it was posted.**

 **Also, if you're a batman fan, go check out The Grayson Intuition! It's the story that helped me get over my writer's block and bring this chapter to you! I warn you now, it's sad and contains the death of two major characters, but if that's your thing then check it out!**

 **The Grayson Intuition, The Sixth Guardian, and The Trickster: Archangel of Gold, Nightmare, and Were He Not There are all going to be posted on Archive Of Our Own shortly. That doesn't mean I'm completely transferring over, I will be posting on both sites. It's just another avenue you can take to read them. The username is Civilized_Muppets**

 **Edit: Sorry about the formatting issues, I have no idea how that happened. Thank you to suntan140 Vlavroth for informong me of the issue so quickly.**

 **Reviews make me happy!**

 **~Liza**


	4. The Prince and the Slaves

**WARNING: This chapter contains some disturbing content. It's not quite torture, but it does depict characters getting hurt in a bad situation. I'll put *'s right before and right after them, and I'll put a summary of what happened in the AN at the bottom if you are unable to read that sort of thing.**

 _His name was Loki, and that was all he knew at the beginning._

 _He eventually discovered more things about himself. He despised high temperatures, but was perfectly comfortable in places cold enough to kill. When he was cold enough, his eyes turned red and his skin turned blue, odd raised lines that had never been there before suddenly decorating his whole body. He was clever, with an eye for mischief. He had a mind for strategy. He was a talented liar, and he could tell when someone was lying to him._

 _Which was why he could tell immediately that the purple man claiming to be his father was nothing of the sort._

 _He knew that he had not always been there, no matter how many people greeted him as though he were an old friend, or asked him if he remembered a certain event, acting like they forgot he was amnesiac when he informed them that he did not. No matter how many people congratulated him on his recovery from "That nasty fall", or asked when he would return to the army. Liars, liars, liars the lot of them._

 _They did not know him. The events they kept mentioning never happened. He had not fallen… well, actually, that didn't seem quite right, maybe he had, but it was certainly not what had caused his loss of memory. He had never been in their army._

 _The scars on his body were not gained from battle. At least, most of them weren't. There were battle scars, a knife wound on his gut, a scar on his side where it seemed as though an arrow had grazed him. The others though… they were deliberate. They were new._ ***** _A long patch on his inner thigh that looked like it was from someone skinning him. Burn marks on his feet. His slightly crooked fingers that were more likely that not broken. Little chips near his fingernails where it looked like they had been peeled off. Dashed near his eyes where the oh so sensitive skin had been nicked. Long lines on his back where he had been lashed. Dots lining his lips, in what he can only assume is the pattern where they were stitched together. He had been someone before this place, someone with information. He had either given it away or it had been forced from him, and once whoever was on the other end of these scars, they erased his memory and made him anew._ *****

 _He was not their Prince, regardless of what they said. He was their King's shiny new weapon, that would be used until broken and thrown away._

 _At the time, he had no idea that "shiny" would be all too true._

 _The first time he met the girls who would later become his sisters was in battle. They were dirty, dressed in rags, and frail. They each wore the yellow armband that marked them as slaves, usually prisoners from planets the Mad Titan had conquered. Thanos has thrown them in a room with swords that were not suited to them and told them to fight. The girls had lept at him without hesitation, and he had no choice but to strike back._

 _After the battle, Loki stood victor over both of them, though he had been surprised that they were as good as they were, even though they were afraid of something, and had allowed that fear to take hold of them and send them into a frenzy. When the fight was over, the blue one looked terrified, and the green one simply looked numb, as though she knew her fate and had accepted it._

" _Well done, Loki! You've always been the best! Now, kill them!"_

 _And suddenly, Loki understood why they were afraid. They knew that if they lost, they would be killed. He looked to Thanos, grinning from the balcony over the arena, and then back at the girls lying bloody at his feet. He knew the scars, he knew that Thanos would hurt him without hesitation should he refuse. And really, he had no reason to. He did not know them, their deaths would mean nothing to him, he had nothing to gain and everything to lose._

 _He gripped the sword in his hand tighter, telling himself that he would make it quick for them, end their suffering as much as he could, until he looked into the blue ones eyes._

 _She, unlike her companion, wanted to live. Desperately, completely. He looked back at the green one and saw the fire in her eyes that said no, she had not accepted her fate, and if she was going out she would go out fighting._

 _Loki turned around, all the while wondering what he was doing, and dropped the sword, letting it fall to the ground and send a loud CLANK throughout the metal room. He looked Thanos, the monster who claimed to be his father, dead in the eye, and announced with far more confidence than he actually felt:_

" _No."_

 _He could feel the girl's eyes staring at him in shock from behind him as Thanos jumped into the pit. He stalked towards Loki, who had not dropped his gaze no matter how close he had gotten, until he stood towering over him._

" _What was that?"_

" _I said no. I will not kill them."_

" _And why, pray tell, is that?"_

" _They're good fighters, and have the potential to be greater. Their deaths would be a waste. They're far more useful alive than dead."_

 _Thanos looked down at him, seeming to consider his words. Personally, Loki thought he was doing a rather good job of standing still and confident even though every fiber of his being was remembering the pain he could not, and was screaming at him to give in and save himself._

" _Very well, Loki. From this point forward, they are yours to train, and to punish. They will be moving into your wing, and you may use them for anything you wish. However, this is not a gift. There is a price for them, and a price for denying me."_

 _Loki raised his chin and looked at him coolly, ignoring his instincts begging him to look down at the floor._

" _Name it."_

 _The titan grinned savagely at him before grabbing his wrist._ ***** _Excruciating pain followed, and Loki almost lost his silver tongue trying not to scream._ *****

 _When all was said and done, he had a new metal left arm, left eye, and half a right leg._ ***** _The process of turning the skin and bones to metal was the most painful thing imaginable, but Loki simply grit his teeth and refused to scream, refused to give this monster the satisfaction._ *****

 _Thanos dismissed him, and he calmly used magic to levitate the girls and take them to his wing of the palace. He carefully set them on the bed in one of the guest rooms, before sitting beside them with a first aid kit and carefully tending to their wounds. The blue one fell asleep as soon as she realized that he would hardly be going through that much trouble if he were going to kill them, but the green one did not take her eyes off of him or let her guard down, even as she moved to give him access to the slashes on her back._

" _Why?"_

 _He looked up sharply, not expecting her to speak."_

" _Pardon?'_

" _Why did you spare us?"_

 _He looked at her for a long moment, not sure how to answer that question._

" _I'm not entirely certain myself, but I think… I think that was me, once. I think, a long time ago, I was the one lying bloody on the ground, my fate in the victor's hands, pleading for him to help... and he failed me. I couldn't let the same thing happen to you."_

 _She stared at him for a long moment, before nodding and laying down. He stood from his chair and moved to the doorway._

" _I'll come check on you tomorrow in the morning. We'll talk then."_

 _He learned their names were Nebula and Gamora. After they were healed he moved them to separate bedrooms, magically designed them to their tastes, and commissioned new clothes for them. He trained them to fight better than they were, he taught them how to work with their adrenaline instead of against it. It wasn't long before the girls were thought to be Princesses, his sisters under Thanos. Thanos didn't seem to care about the rumor all that much. Gamora and Nebula because some of the best agents he had, and he used them to their fullest extent. But when they returned from their missions, Loki would always be waiting in their rooms, extra blankets on their beds, with a smile and a first aid kit._

 _They would stay awake late into the night, plotting their escape from the void, promising each other over and over that they would leave together, they were each other's home now, none of them would be left behind. When Ronan came along, they saw the opportunity they had been presented with and took it in a heartbeat. The plan had been for Gamora to get arrested while Loki stayed with Nebula, and for Gamora to escape and meet up with them later. Loki getting arrested with her was a huge wrench in the plan, but they continued, only to discover that Nebula, thinking she'd been abandoned by them, had snapped. They tried to get her to come with her during the battle, and tried to find her afterwards, but she was nowhere to be found. They acted like they were happy at their victory in front of the other guardians, but that night, and many nights long after, Gamora snuck into Loki's room and they cried late into the night, mourning their lost sister._

 _When Peter announced she had been found, Loki had been internally bursting with relief. Gamora pulled him into a hug before they left, whispering "Bring her home" in his ear. He nodded against her shoulder._

 _When he saw Nebula for the first time in months, his heart broke just that little bit more._

 **AN: Basically, what you missed if you didn't read the parts with torture, is that Loki knows that he's been brutally tortured because of the distinct scars on his body and he gained his metal appendages painfully as the price for Gamora and Nebula.**

 **I know this isn't a continuation of the previous chapter and that cliffhanger is still there, and I'm sorry for making you guys wait, but this was absolutely necessary in order to understand the relationship between Loki and Nebula before their confrontation, and I couldn't figure out a way for this to be in the next chapter and have it all flow the way I wanted it to. I know it's short, and it's darker than this story usually is, but it had to be done.**

 **Hopefully the next chapter isn't too far off and we can wrap up that cliffhanger soon.**

 **Review!**


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